Senate Democrats enthusiastically rejected the House’s budget blueprint Wednesday in a politically charged vote over the future of Medicare.

Democrats chose not to produce their own budget while bipartisan negotiations led by Vice President Joseph Biden continue and instead pivoted to a show-vote strategy, convinced that Republicans are hurting themselves by embracing the plan by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to overhaul Medicare.

A handful of Republicans — Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Scott Brown (Mass.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) — joined Democrats to reject the House budget, 40-57. Paul voted against it because Ryan’s plan still adds $8 trillion to the debt over the next decade.

A budget proposal by Paul was rejected on a similarly lopsided vote of 7-90. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell voted in support of his fellow Kentucky Republican’s bill, which would slash discretionary spending, eliminate multiple Cabinet departments and dramatically reduce the size of government in an effort to balance the budget in five years.&nbsp;The Senate also rejected, 42-55, a budget proposal by Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to cut deeper than Ryan’s while staying away from his Medicare plan.

Democrats went to the floor and held multiple press conferences about Ryan's budget, ripping Republicans for being willing to cut Medicare to pay for tax breaks for the rich and corporations. New seniors “would pay more and more” for their Medicare coverage, while the wealthiest Americans would pay “less and less” in taxes, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said. Democrats noted that the GOP plan would also trim existing prescription drug and wellness benefits for seniors.

“The Republican plan to kill Medicare is a plan to make the rich richer and the sick sicker,” Reid said.

The Republicans in turn accused Democrats of trying to scare seniors about Medicare without offering a plan of their own to keep it from running out of money.